


RWBY tale: Second chance

by Adam99jt



Category: RWBY
Genre: Action, Adam is alive, Adventure, Amnesia, Anger, Fantasy, Finding a new path, Gen, Good Samaritan, Grimm - Freeform, Healing, Journey, Ninja, Original Character(s), Post-Volume 6 (RWBY), RWBY Atlas, Redemtion, Survival, Training, finding out the truth, finding who you are, memory flashes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:14:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 14,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23635882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adam99jt/pseuds/Adam99jt
Summary: This is a what if story about a villain from RWBY, his struggle to regain his memories and forge a new path for him self.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Gerald was walking along the river as he usually did when he wanted to think. The river was flowing through the forest, it was fast and unrelenting yet the sound of it was calming in a way. The forest around it was covered with snow and most of the animals were in their dens hiding from the cold. A soft cold breeze carried a smell in the air that only the Geralds wolf Tany noticed. It was a familiar smell she knew well. The river wasn't frozen like most rivers would be in winter it was flowing and its waters were crystal clear. The crystal blue of the water was broken by an emerald red color traveling downstream.

"What is this?" Gerald said with to his large pet wolf. "We better see whats going on."

Further down the source of the red was found, a body covered in blood was laying on the riverbank. The duo came closer to inspect the find. The wolf Tany went first and sniffed the body. Gerald came and knelt beside her and the body.

"Such a shame, even here in this peaceful place people seem to die. Shame!"

Gerald inspected the body closely. The man had red hair and was wearing all black clothes which was stained by dark red color of blood. He had two black horns on his head so he was clearly a faunus. The wolf grabbed the mans jacket and turned the body to its back. His face could now be seen. He was a young man probably late teens or early twenties. A large scar in a shape of a brand mark across his left eye.

"Shnee dust company" said Gerald disappointingly. "I don't know what happened to you but I know you didn't deserve this. Come on Tany we cant leave him here like this he deserves a proper burial."

As the old man got up a faint growl was heard by the wolf but not by Gerald. The wolf started barking at the body.

"What wrong girl?"

Gerald put his finger on the body's neck and detected a pulse. It was faint but it was there.

"He is still alive girl, we need to help him quickly!"

Gerald lifted the young man and put him on the back of his grey wolf. They rushed back to the cabin as fast as they could. Once they got beck to their woodland home Gerald took the injured man and put him on the bed in the living room. He took off his shirt to see two wounds on his chest, the man was loosing blood fast. There was only one thing that Gerald could think off that would save this mans life. The old man put his hands over the bloody chest and started focusing. Soon his hands started gloving with green light and the bleeding stopped shorty after.

"This have to do for now. We better get you bandaged up."

AN: I know that this chapter is a bit short but it gets better so continue reading and leave you comments and reviews.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A few days went by since Gerald and Tany found the mysterious man on the river bank.

Gerald did his best to attend to his wounds. The man was out of consciousness ever since they found him. The fact that he was even alive was a miracle.

"Two stab wounds to the chest, you are eider really lucky or really tough. A huntsman perhaps, what do you think girl?"

The wolf lifted its head and only replied with a soft haul.

"I think that its time for us to have dinner wouldn't you agree?" As he said those words the wolf got up from her place by the fire and started wagging her tail. The old man only softly chuckled at the response.

As they were eating the mysterious man opened his eyes. He was in pain, it hurt everywhere. He tried to look around but did not have the strengh. After a few moments he managed to tilt his head to the side and saw the duo eating their dinner.

"W...Where..am I? Said the man. His body hurt while he said those words.

"Oh look who is awake." said Gerald with happiness in his voice.

"W-Who are you?

"My name is Gerald Sherstone, my wolfy companion over there is Tany and you are in my house. But the real question there my mysterious friend is, who are you?"

The man tried to answer but he couldn't. He couldn't remember his name."I don't know."

"Do you remember what you were doing in the forest"

"I...I don't"

"Do you remember anything about yourself"

The man tried hard to remember something, anything about himself but he couldn't. It was all blank.

"I-I don't remember anything. W-What happened to me?"

"Well it looks like you took a beating my friend. When I found you, you had two stab wounds in you chest and were bleeding badly. At first I thought you were dead but Tany here saw that you were still alive, it is a true miracle really. I believe that is the source of your amnesia."

The man lifted his blankets to see bandages on his torso. What had happened to him and how did he survived he wondered,

"How long was I out?"

"A few days, I did my best to take care of your wounds. At my age it isn't as easy as it used to be but I can still use my semblance."

The young man looked at Gerald with confusion.

"I can heal people quickly, I managed to heal you just enough to survive, but I believe that the reason you survived long enough for me to find you is your aura. It kept you alive just enough."

"T-Thank you." as he said those words he immediately growled in pain.

"As I said, I healed you enough to survive but it will take us a few more sessions to heal properly."

Gerald's words were interrupted by loud noise coming from the mans stomach. It sounded like an angry wolf grimm.

"Oh where are my manners, you must be hungry. Here have something to eat."

He ate the bawl of soup and some fish like he had never eaten before. It tasted delicious, the old man really knew how to cook. After he had finished his meal he fell back into sleep. A dream came to him, he was fighting two silhouettes, he heard a girls voice saying something but he could not hear it and just like it came the dream ended just as abruptly. The dream startled him, he said to himself that it was only a dream but could it be more..

The next morning he was woken up by a strange feeling of wetness on his face. As he opened his eyes he could see Tany licking his face. He pushed her snout from his face and wiped the saliva of his face.

"Good morning Red!"

"Good morning Gerald."

"Breakfast is almost ready, do you like pork?"

"Y-Yeah sure."

"After we finish with that, I will continue with the healing."

The man stared at Gerald for a few moments lost in thought before asking.

"Why do you help me? You don't know anything about me. You could have left me there on the river to die."

"Because Red, that is the right thing to do. Yes I don't know anything about you but neither do you."

"You could easily be a huntsman who got injured fighting some bandits. We don't know!"

They just looked at each other, with a look of fear and confusion in one eyes and sympathy and kindness in the other ones.

"Now lets just eat." said the old man with a smile on his face.

Gerald's hands were placed on the young mans chest, gloving with green light, slowly healing the two wounds found on his chest. After some time the old man stopped and lifted his hands.

"That will be it for now, I cant do it anymore or I'll get too exhausted. I'm not as young as I used to be."

"It is enough, thank you."

"I think that you are good enough to start walking now."

The young man pushed the blankets to the side and but his legs over the edges of the bad, he put one hand on the wall and tried to get up. He managed to lift him self up with little difficulty and made few steps towards the diner table but he almost fell, grabbing the table at the last moment.

"Easy Red, take it easy!"

The man turned to the old man and asked. "Why do you call me that?"

"Well considering that we don't know your true name, we must call you something, mysterious stranger is kinda dumb and I just think that Red suits you because of your hair."

He looked at his messy hair and then looked back at the old man.

"It that case Red it is" he said with a soft voice.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Seven more days have past and Red was now almost back to full health. He tried to remember who he was but since that dream, nothing came to him. He only knew that he was in some kind of a fight and that he lost. He wanted answers but he knew they will have to wait for now. The sudden noise of doors opening woke him from his thoughts. Gerald walked in with a happy smile.

"So, you are now in good shape so, I was wondering if you would like to help me with gathering supplies? It would do you some good to step out of the cabin for a little while."

Red just looked at the man and nodded in agreement.

"Good you have some warm clothes in the trunk over there, take them and put them on. We leave in 10 minutes.

Red got himself ready. The clothes were warm and comfortable. Tany crept behind him and licked his hand. He turned and looked at her, smiled and patted her by the head.

"Who's a good girl?"

"Red lets go! Tany you stay here!" said Gerald in a commanding voice.

They strolled through the woods for some time, gathering herbs and chatting a bit before reaching a cave entrance. The cave gave Red bad vibes but he shrugged it off as he saw Gerald start entering it.

"Come on boy, there is nothing to be scared here!" Gerald said with a small smirk on his face.

"What do we need from here?" asked Red with confusion in his voice.

"There are some really delicious mushrooms that grow there and they would go perfectly with I have in stored for us for diner:"

They walked deep into the cave, wandering around for some time before Gerald spotted the mushrooms.

"There they are!" He used his knife to cut the mushrooms of the walls of the cave and put them into his bag. He got up and started walking back towards Red. But as he was heading back something came behind him. Reds eyes went wide open to the site and he tried to worn the old man.

"GERALD, WATCH OUT!" as he said those words a large claw came down and hit the old man tossing him to the other side of the cave. "NO" Red shouted in frustration and fear.

The creature came closer and Red could see that it truly was. It was a large bear Grimm, this must have been its den. The next thing he knew was the Grimm charging at him at full speed. He jumped to the side nearly avoiding it. The creature turned back and started charging at him once more, he kept avoiding its strikes but he knew he couldn't do this forever, he needed a solution and fast. As it tried to strike again he jumped at the wall of the cave and bounced back near the unconscious Gerald, his knife was still in his hand. Red quickly took the knife and went on an attack. The Grimm slammed its hand down but missed him, jumped at its arm, and started running towards its head. As he reached its head he stabbed the knife into its left eye. A loud scream of pain came from the grim., Red jumped back to the ground as the creature fell down motionless.

Red quickly turned his gaze back to the old man and ran to his aid.

"Gerald, Gerald come on, wake up." a worried expression across his face.

"K-Kid...ah..im ok"

"Can you walk?"

"I think so, come on give me a hand."

Red helped the old man up and started caring him out of the cave. As they went past the grim. Gerald smiled and said, "You really did a number on him Red."

Red only looked at him and chuckled.

As they were getting out of the cave Gerald turned to Red and removed his arm from his shoulders.

Red looked at him with confusion. He was just knocked out by a bear grim. he should be taking it easy.

"I can walk fine on my own now, thank you."

"But... you were just thrown to the wall hard, you need help."

"I'm fine kid truly, now let's get back to the cabin, shall we?"

Red just looked at him for several long moments with confusion in his eyes, he finally broke the silence.

"You did this on purpose, you new that a Grimm lived here didn't you?"

"So what if I did?" the old man said with a small grin on his face, his arms raised.

"Why?" Red asked with frustration filling his voice.

"To see what you are made off, to see if you are healed enough. You are really good at fighting, by your moves I can say for certain you were no ordinary bandit or scoundrel, huntsman most likely."

Red just stud there looking at the old man. Not knowing either to be angry or grateful for his actions and incite.

"Come on Red, it will be getting dark soon and we should get back home before it does."

After a few seconds the young man replied "Fine let's go." and with that, he followed the old man back to his cabin.

The next few days passed quickly with Gerald trying to make Red remember how to use his aura and how to fight. It seemed that all was going well, Red was learning fast, probably because the training only served as a way to remind himself how to do things.

AN: leave me your thoughts and reviews. I'm sorry for any grammatical errors I did my best to check for mistakes and make it good. I'm a huge RWBY fan and I just wanted more to have been done with Adam so I decided to do this. As i said leave me your comments.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The two men were sitting at the table eating their dinner and cheating when a thought came to Red's mind.

"Who were you... I mean what were you before this? By the looks of it, you weren't always a hermit living in the woods."

The old man looked at him, leaned back in his chair and smiled.

"Long ago, when I was young like you I was a huntsman, well at least I like to say that I was. Back then there weren't any academies like today. You needed to learn how to be one on your own."

"So you just went around and hunted Grimm like all the others?"

"Well, yes and no, I did have my fair share of adventures. I traveled around, seen the world a bit, even spent some time traveling with the Grimm Reaper."

"Grimm Reaper?" he looked at him with confusion.

"Don't tell me you never heard of the Grimm reaper kid!"

"Can't say that I have."

"She was one of the best huntsmans of our time if not the best. She wore a skull mask that covered her whole face. Some people found it creepy, while I found it rather interesting." the old man said with a small smirk on his face.

"So what happened between you two?"

"Nothing really, we spent some time traveling together, doing that we did best and when the time came we parted ways."

"What happened to her?" With thous words, the smirk faded from Gerald's face, replicated with a sad expression.

"Sometime after that, she disappeared, some thought that she just moved to some other kingdom but no one has heard of her since."

"Oh..im sorry."

"What for, you wanted to know more about me and now you do. If you want to hear more don't be afraid to ask."

"Well, I would like to know how you got her." Red pointed at the large wolf that was sitting by the fire with a large bone in its mouth.

"I found Tany when she was just a pap, a rant of the litter. She was all alone in the woods when I saw her, I just couldn't leave her there so I brought her with me. She has been my loyal companion now for 10 years." Red looked straight into the wolf's eyes and smiled at her before tossing a leftover from his dinner to her.

"Why didn't you just left her there? Her mother might have returned for her."

"Two reasons. First, because odds of that happening were slim and second because it was the right thing to do. I couldn't have just left her there do starve and die."

Red looked at the wolf with a smile and said: "I guess you made the right choice."

"Any more stories you want to hear, because I got them plenty."

"Sure, why not?"

It was a long time since he last spoke about his journeys so the old man was happy to oblige. The two men spent the rest of the night talking about Geralds many adventures, the old man spoke while Red just listened and causally commented on the impossibility of some of them.

The wary next day Gerald, Red and Tany were walking along the river, simply looking at the peaceful woodland landscape when Gerald spoke.

"Listen, I don't know what happened to you so I can't give you any answers, but I think I know about someone who can help you." Red looked at him with a mixture of shock and hope.

"What do you mean? Who can help me?"

"Right after I found you there was some commotion in the city. It had something to do with the Atlas garrison commander, some Grimm and a group of huntsman from Beacon. I believe they could hold the answers you seek."

Red was overjoyed and scared at the same time. He was happy that there was a possibility that he might find out who he was, but there was also a filing of dread and fear growing inside him for some reason.

"According to what I heard they went to Atlas for some reason."

"So… they might be the key to getting my old life back."

"Maybe, but if you are going to find them you are going to need to get to Atlas first."

"I'm guessing by the look on your face that you have a way of getting me there somehow."

"Well not me really, but I do know someone how might get you there."

"Who and more importantly how?"

"I will tell you the rest in the morning, I'm too tired to continue."

Red looked at him with slight frustration but nodded it confirmation


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gerald starts to put his plan of getting Red to Atlas in motion.

Chapter 5

Once the morning arrived, Gerald continued with his plan.

"As I said, to get to those Beacon huntsman you need to get to Atlas, and to get to Atlas you need an aircraft. Lucky for you I just know somebody in town that has it and can get you there in no time."

"Let me guess, an old friend of yours."

"Well yes!"

"And how do you plan to get me to pass Atlas security, I might have lost my memory but I do know that Atlas military is no joke."

"There is nothing for you to worry, this friend of mine can get past them and get you where you want in one piece." Red was a bit skeptical about all of this but he knew this was his best chance to get answers. He could not miss this opportunity.

"Fine, I will go with this friend of yours, but if we get shot out of the sky and get caught this is all on you."

"That's the spirit my boy!" Gerald said and offered a gentle smile.

"So when are we going to meet this pilot of yours?"

"Soon, but first I can't let you leave here without proper gear."

"Gear… what gear?" Red looked at Gerald unsure what he meant by that. He knew he wasn't going to need something like an ice ax or pocket knife. Gerald simply went towards the door of his room, opened them, and told red to come inside with him. Once Red came in Gerald opened an old wardrobe for its contents for them to see. It was armor, two swords one longer and the other shorter and a crimson red Oni mask.

"This...This was yours." Red said with astonishment.

"Once yes. I wore this armor with pride for many years. It once belonged to my father and his father before him. It is old but it will protect you. Trust me it can take some serious damage.

"I-I can't. It belongs to you. It should stay here."

"No, you will take it. It's better for someone to use it than for it to gather dust here like it has been doing for years."

"I-I really don't know what to say. Why?"

"Because its the right thing to do." Gerald looked the young man straight into his eyes and Red could see something in them. It was a mixture of goodness, honor and duty.

"Thank you, really. I don't know what to say."

"Just put the damn thing on and will get going. Red took the armor out if the wardrobe and started putting it on, piece by piece. When he was done putting in on he took a walk around the cabin to get a feel of it. It was really light. He could see that it was made more for speed and stealth then heavy close carters combat. This will do nicely he thought.

"You ready kid?"

"Let's go!" Red putt on the Oni mask and pulled a huddle over his head and walked out of the cabin with Gerald.

"So how long will it take us to reach the city?"

"With snowmobiles not long."

"Snowmobiles?"

Gerald walked towards the shed opposite the cabin and opened the doors to revile two snowmobiles.

"Hop on kid we don't have all day."

As they were walking along the city streets Red noticed that the people were giving him strange looks.

They were not looks of fear, it seemed more like a look of disbelief and astonishment. They looked like they just saw a ghost. Red was getting a bit uncomfortable.

"Why are people looking at me like that? They look like they just saw a ghost."

The old man chuckled at his words. "That is because they just did. People around here know me well but I rarely leave the woods so I guess seeing a young version of me is a bit unusual."

Red simply stopped paying so much attention to people's glares and followed Gerald until he stopped in front of a repair shop.

"Here we are Red! Jason's repair shop. Let's go in and say hello." The duo walked in, went to the large desk in front and rang the bell.

"I will be right with you!" a voice could have been heard coming from the next room. A few moments later the door opened and in came an old man dressed into a jumpsuit.

"Jason you old smuggler how have you been?" A large smile found its self on Gerald's face.

"Gerald you hermit its good to see you! the two friends have each other a hug. "Cassie come here and see who was decided to visit us!" as soon as Jason saw Red in full armor he broke off the hug.

"So I'm guessing you didn't come here just to see your old friend."

"Yes and no. You see I need you to get Red here into Atlas or as close to Atlas as you can.

"That isn't going to be easy my friend. Something is happening over there, something bad. Ironwood has called most of the military back to Atlas and he has even put an embargo on dust. By the looks of what is happening over there something is coming."

The door of the garage opened and in came a girl. She had long blond hear which she kept in a ponytail, lilac eyes and freckles on her face. Red turned his head to look at her and for a moment time froze. For some reason she looked familiar, he couldn't put his finger on it but he could have sworn that he saw her or someone like her somewhere. A feeling of hate and anger filled him for a moment.

"Uncle G, you finally came to visit us." the girl hugged the old man and he hugged her back.

"Its good to see you too Cassie. You have grown since last I saw you."

"It has been some time since you last came to visit." Cassie looked behind the old man a saw someone she didn't know standing there. "Who is this uncle G?"

"This is Red. He is mine… apprentice."

"Apprentice? I thought you said that you didn't want to train any more huntsman."

"Well for him I made an exception."

Cassie broke the hug off and took a few steps towards the masked man.

"Hi, my name is Cassie nice to meet you. After a few seconds, Red snapped back into reality and responded.

"H-hi the names Red." she looked straight into his mask covered face for a long moment before taking a step back and saying.

"You must be really something if uncle Gerald decided to train you. He even refused to train me and I begged him like a thousand times.

"I did that for a good reason, your grandfather would kill me if anything was to happen to you."

"I would do more than that." the two old men laughed at the thought of them fighting each other.

"Now let's continue where we left off, shall we Jason?"

AN: The armor in question is a kind of light samurai armor and swords are a katana and a wakizashi (short sword). I just thought that Adam looking something like a ninja would look awesome so I went with it. Feel free to comment and leave a review.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"As I said getting to Atlas won't be easy. I can't risk getting to close to Atlas itself, but I can get him to a small town not to far from it."

"How far?"

"About a five maybe six hours drive from Atlas. I'm sorry but as I said it is too risky."

"It will do just fine. What do you say Red?" the old man turned around to look at his companion.

"Considering I don't have any other options it will have to do."

"So where is she Jason, where is the trusty old bird?"

"We wrecked it the last time we flew together, don't you remember?"

"I do remember and I also remember that you said that you could fix her."

"I thought that myself at the time but it proved more challenging than I thought it would be so eventually I gave up and just bought a new one."

"You bought a new one, you have to show me," Gerald said with excitement.

"Fine follow me it's in the back."

Red kept silent for the duration of the conversation between two friends, only following them and listening to their cheater until Cassie crept up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Huh?" Red turned his head to see the blond standing right beside him.

"I wanted to ask, why are you going to Atlas?"

"I-its personal." Cassie walked in front of him and gave him a strong glare. She couldn't see it under the mask but he was starting to feel a bit uneasy because of her staring.

"Oh come on you have to give me more than that. I'm going to be your pilot by the way."

"You are going to be my pilot?"

"Well not exactly, grandpa is the pilot I'm the co-pilot." She felt a bit embarrassed by her previous statement but she didn't show it.

"I don't really care who gets me there as long as I get there. Hopefully not in handcuffs."

"Don't you worry my grandfather is the best pilot in Mistral and Atlas. You will get there safe and sound. If anybody can get you there it's him."

"Gerald did say he was once a good smuggler so I'm going to trust you with it."

"So I ask again why are you going there?"

"As I said its personal."

"Come on tell me."

"No!" He was starting to get a bit frustrated.

"Come on, please."

Red decided to go after the two old men but Cassie just kept walking beside him and asking him to tell her the reason for his journey. After a while he got fed up, he turned to her and shouted at her.

"Its huntsman business all right. God, why do you have to be so annoying." Only after a few seconds after he said those words when he looked at her did he realize how mad and hurtful did it sound. And that it was also a lie.

"I-I'm sorry. I was just curious." she looked at him with a scared expression on her face.

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost it like that. Can you forgive me?"

The look at fear dispersed as fast as it came, it was now replaced with a soft smile. "I will forgive you, but you need to learn how to control your anger first."

"I know and I will."

"Come on let's catch up with grandpa and uncle Gerald."

The young duo caught up with Jason and Gerald at the hangar behind the workshop. It was then when Red caught a glimpse of the craft that will get him to his destination.

"I know she might not be the prettiest sight in the world but she can fly. You got my word kid."Jason said with a voice full of confidence and pride.

"I can't thank you enough for this Jason. I really own you one," said Gerald.

"Yeah...yeah just remember to visit sometimes when you don't need me to do the impossible."

"If anyone can do it it's you. You and I did far more complicated things in the past."

"Don't remind me. My leg still hurts from that job in Vile."

"We had some crazy adventures together, haven't we? But naught staling we need to get him to Atlas fast. How soon can you get this bird in the air?"

"With all of the preparations, give me half an hour. Cassie go and close the shop for the day we have more pressing matters to attend to."

"Sure thing grandpa."

The old smuggler and his granddaughter went their separate ways, living Red and Gerald alone in front of the hangar. Red came closer to the old huntsman. He wanted to know why he was doing all of this just to help some lost soul. He wasn't ungrateful, but still, he wanted to know why.

"Why do all this for me, you and your friend could end up in trouble because of me."

Gerald gave Red a compassionate look and said: "Remember when you asked me why I did not leave Tany in the woods?"

"Yes, you said that you saved her because it was the right thing to do."

"And that is why I'm doing all of this because it is the right thing to do. There are many people in this world that are in need of help and a good huntsman, a good man should never turn a blind eye to someone in need of help."

"I don't know how to thank you."

"Just remember when the time comes to make a choice, remember to pick the right one."

"I will, I promise."

"Good, now let's see what is Jason up to."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Gerald and Red approached the plane at its end. Cassie was refueling it and Jason was doing last-minute checks of the flight instruments. The duo walked into the aircraft and approached the cockpit. Jason could hear their footsteps as they got behind him.

"We will be ready to go as soon as Cassie is don with the refueling. All instruments are working fine. It's going to be good being in the air again."

"Remember just don't crash" Gerald softly chuckled.

"Don't jinx us. I rather not need to buy another one when this is over."

Cassie approached the man and reported in. "All done with the refueling, we are all set to go." She moved past Red and took her seat next to Jason. Jason turned to look at his granddaughter.

"Oh no, you aren't going with me this time. You are staying here to watch the shop."

"Come on grandpa its been 2 years since last we flew. I want to come with. Watching the shop is boring as hell."

"I said no. And no means no."

"Please grandpa, pretty pleassssssseeeeeeee." said Cassie as she gave him a puppy eye look. 

"Oh fine. God, why do you have to be so persuasive."

"Haha yeah!"

"Well, this means that I should be taking my leave now. Watch your self out there kid and good luck," said Gerald. "And I will be seeing you two in about a few days I promise this time."

Jason simply smiled at his old friend and said: "I will hold you to that."

Gerald walked to the exit with Cassie following close behind. Once he exited she pressed the button and the door started closing.

"See you around uncle G.," she said as she waved him goodbye. 

"See you soon Cassie." He took a few steps back and looked at the plane. "I hope everything turns out well for you Red."

Cassie returned to her seat and put the headpiece on as Jason started powering on the engines. Soon they started moving down the runway and a few seconds later they were in the air. Once they were above the water the radio turned on and a commanding female voice was heard coming from it.

"Unknown aircraft you do not have permission to fly in this area please turn back or suffer the consequences "

Jason responded to the message "Hey Cordovin it's nice to hear your voice."

"Jason, what do you think you are doing?"

"You see I have to deliver a packing to Atlas for a friend and I'm going to need you to not blow me out of the sky."

"And give me one reason not to do so."

Jason smirked "Remember that little favor I did for you two years ago, well I think I will collect my payment now. If you let me pass I will forget your debt."

"Fine, but you are lucky those rookies were total idiots, or else this wouldn't have been happening."

"Thanks, Cordovin I always knew you had a good hart."

"Just go before I change my mind," Cordovin said angrily. 

Red was relieved that he wasn't falling out of the sky in a burning plane right now. "That was close. I think that I will go lay down in the cargo hold."

"Fill free do to as you wish kid it's going to take some time before we reach the town, so rest."

Red lay his back to the first cargo crate saw and fell to sleep. At first, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary about his dreams but then out of nowhere, a strange dream came to him. Everything around him was in ruin or burning and in front of him were two figures. He couldn't see their faces but one of them had blond hair and she charged at him. At that moment he awoke in a cold sweat and breading fast. Cassie walked up next to him with a concerned look on her face.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, It was just a bad dream nothing more."

"You sure. I'm here if you need to talk about it."

"Don't worry I'm fine. Just another bad dream. Did you need something?"

"Actually yes, I wanted to know how long has uncle Gerald been training you?"

"Not that long to be honest."

"Did you ever go Grimm hunting with him?"

"Yes, I did. I took down this large bear Grimm some time ago."

"That is so cool. I always wanted to a huntress." Red smiled at her excitement but he knew the downside if that job. 

"Why it isn't exactly the safest of professions."

She looked at with a trace of sadness in her eyes. "My mom was a huntress. Ever since I cant remember I wanted to be just like her, to do good to help people."

"Why dint you?"

She crossed her arms and turned her back to Red. "My grandfather forbade me from ever trying to a huntress. Its too dangerous he says. I did try to get uncle G to train me but he refused because he knew my grandfather's opinion on that. I did manage to practice in secret when I could and even got a few lessons from a traveling huntsman couple months back I know that that isn't enough."

"Can you hold your own in a fight?"

"I think I can. I have been in a few tight spaces before and mostly came on top."

"Then maybe you should listen to your grandfather, then again who I'm to tell you what to do I'm only a guy who can't even remember his own name." 

She turned around a smile on her face. "Sooooo what is the reason you are going to Atlas?"

"You really don't give up, do you?"

"No. Grandpa says that that's one of my biggest straights." she said with an even larger smile "Now that you know that I'm not going to give up might as well tell me."

"Fine I-i lost my memory some time ago and I think that there are some people in Atlas that can help me get some answers."

"Oh, i-am sorry." Cassie really did feel pity for him, no one should forget who they are.

"There is nothing for you to be sorry for. I should have simply told you when you first asked instead of reacting as I did."

"So what's behind the mask?" Cassie went to touch it but Red quickly got up to stop her from doing so.

"Please don't." his voice was filled with pain. He didn't know why but he was too ashamed, he was too scared to take off the mask, and Cassie noticed this.

"Alright do as you want. The reason I came to you is to tell you that we will we landing soon so brace yourself." And with that, the young blond went back to her sit in the cockpit.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason leaves Red to go on the next step of his journey.

Chapter 8

Red moved to the cockpit where Jason and Cassie were sitting, slowly preparing the plane to land at the small airstrip in front of them. Cassie flipped a switch and the wheels lowered themself, Jason started to slowly lower the aircraft down to the ground. The plane slightly trembled as it touched the ground, soon enough it came to a complete stop. Red could see the small village next to the runway and the people watched the plane with surprise because the runway was rarely in use these days.

"Well, here you are kid, Atlas, or as close as I can get you."

"Thank you, sir. I'm truly grateful."

"Now come on we need to get you on the next transport to the city. There should be a place here where you can buy a ticket or something. We better ask around first. Cassie, you stay here on the plane."

"But grandpa I want to go with you guys."

"No, stay here. I took you along that should have been enough for you."

"Yes, grandpa." Cassie was displeased with her grandfather's decision but she did as she was told and stayed with the plane as the two men exited and went to the village to find the means of transportation for the next step of the journey. They found it at the local tavern where a man called Travis was offering safe passage to Atlas to whoever could pay. Jason reached an agreement for the price which he paid in full. Red and a couple of dozen people would be setting off soon for Atlas.

Red wondered why would these many people be willing to leave their homes so quickly, so he approached one of Travises man.

"Why are all these many people leaving their village. Is something going on?"

"The Grimm attacks in the area have been worsening lately so some people are deciding to seek safety in the city."

"Why aren't there any huntsman of solders around to protect them?"

"As far as I know most Atlas personnel have been recalled either to Atlas itself or one of the larger basses in the region."

"And you decided to make a profit form people in need?" The displeasure could easily be heard in his voice.

"Hey business is business, we are all just trying to make a living one way or the other." the smug expression on the man's face angered Red but before he could do anything someone grabbed him by the hand, it was Jason.

"All is taken care off, kid, you will be setting off soon."

"Thank you again. I really am grateful."

"Don't mention it, just stay safe. And if you are ever in the neighborhood come to my shop I could always use more company."

"Don't you worry I will."

"Well then see you around kid and again stay safe."

"See you mister Jason."

Jason made his way back to the plane while Red stayed at the inn waiting to the departure. Once he reached the aircraft he entered the cargo hold here Cassie was waiting. "Come on time for us to go back home." He expected a replay but nothing came she just stood there looking him with her piercing lilac eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want to go back home, I don't want to go back to that old shop!"

"What? Why?" The old man was taken back by his granddaughter's response.

"I spent the entire eighteen years of my life cupped up in that shop. I want to go and see the world."

"NO, you are coming back home with me where it's safe." Jason wanted nothing more in the world than his granddaughter's safety and he would have done anything to protect her.

"I won't go back not now that I'm here."

"Cassandra Morgan you will come back home with me!"

"I won't. I can't just spend the rest of my life safe and sound while other people are in danger. I overheard some men talking about the situation here, they are alone and helpless and they need someone to protect them."

"And you think you can be the one to do so?"

"Yes I can and I will!"

Out of nowhere, Jason was flooded by the memories which he thought he berried deep inside himself. "Huh, why do you have to see so much like your mother? She said the same thing when she decided she wanted to be trained by Gerald to become a huntress." The old man's eyes filled with tiers and his voice went from angry to sad. "I can't lose you too. I don't want you to lose your life fighting Grimm in the middle of nowhere."

Cassie slowly approached her grandfather and hugged him "I won't I promise." The old man was the first to break off the hug and take a step back. The girl was her mothers daughter, carrying, joyfull and most important stubborn. Jason knew that this moment will come eventually, that his little girl would have to leave eventually, but he hoped for that not to come to pass. 

"I will let you go but under one condition. You will go with Red. I trust that you will be safer with him than alone here."

The young blonde was overjoyed with the news. She gave her grandpa a strong bear hug. "Thank you, thank you thank you." she let go once she noticed that his face was changing collar.

She was practically ready to run off to find Red but was stopped by the old man.

"I can't let you go out there like that. You need proper clothes, weapons and gear." he walked behind one of the crates and pulled out a bag and opened it. Out of it he pulls two revolvers and presented them to her.

She thought that she couldn't be any more excited but when she saw the guns she barely believed her eyes. "Are those the Peacemakers?"

"Yes, they are. They once belonged to your mother. She had them custom made. Push this button here and two hidden blades come out. The rest of the gear and the ammunition is here in the bag. Each kind of dust gives the ammo different ability, so be careful.

"I love you, I love you, I love you."

"I suggest that you get ready fast because the transports are leaving soon and you don't want to miss Red." Cassie simply nodded, picked up the back, and started getting ready.

Cassie practically ran out of the plane but not before she said her final goodbye to her grandfather and promised that she would come back to the shop safe and sound. She walked into the inn and immediately spotted the masked warrior sitting alone next to the fire so she approached slowly behind him.

"Hey there stranger!"

Red turned around to see who it was only to be surprised by Cassie. He gave a quick look at her. She looked different now, she wore a blue winter coat, blue pants and a pair of winter leader bots with a cowboy hat on her head and one revolver on each side with a belt of ammo hidden behind the long coat. "What are you doing here?"

"My grandpa agreed to let me go with you, so here I am." The masked man chuckled and said

"This journey just got a whole lot more interesting."


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red and Cassie travel and get into a bit of trouble.

Chapter 9

"How in the world did you manage to persuade Jason to let you go?" Red asked, genuinely interested to hear the answer. 

"I just stood my ground and refused to go anywhere until he let me come with you." Red could see that a large level of pride emitted from those words.

"I knew you could do it. I only didn't think that you would leave him this soon."

"Well, if I'm going to became someone who helps people might as well start with you. You need to get to Atlas to get answers and it would be better to travel with someone than alone."

"And Jason told you to stay with me for the time being, didn't he?"

Cassie immediately hunched her shoulders and her hands were pointed towards the floor. She became slightly nervous and embarrassed, she also wondered how did he figure it out so fast. "Yeah, you are right he did." Red simply laughed at her response.

"That's some serious firepower you have there. Your grandfathers?

The blonde raised her head to look at him "No my moms. They were hers once and now they are mine."

"Did you give Travis the money for transport?"

"Yes, I did."

"Good, now we just wait." The young blonde took a seat next to her new companion and waited.

About twenty minutes later Travis came into the inn and shouted "Alright, everybody who has paid to leave this place come to the transport trucks at the town center. If anyone is late, we are leaving without them."

"I guess its time for us to go," said Cassie. People quickly left the small inn and went towards their only means of getting to safety. Once they reached the center Travis told the people to split into two groups, ten people in one truck and ten in the other. Red and Cassie went to their truck when out of nowhere a strange orange-haired woman appeared on top of the truck and shouted "Hi everyone, my name is Odessa and I will be your driver for the duration of your journey! Rum rum." Red and Cassie looked at each other and then the strange girl again in confusion. After that a voice came from the left side of the truck "There no need to worry people, my sister is a bit wild but she is a skilled driver and we will get you to Atlas in one piece." Red recognized him as the man he spoke at the inn.

"Well, this is going to be an interesting journey," Red whispered to Cassie.

"Alexander, Odessa stop screwing around and get those people on the truck. We need to get to Atlas before dark." Travis said with a commanding voice.

"Sure thing boss." Alexander looked at the gathered group of men, women and children and spotted the two friends who were kinda sticking out of the crowd. He instantly recognized the man with the oni mask but he did not remember seeing the blond with him earlier so he smirked and approached the duo.

"Hello my name is Alexander and I will be the one protecting you during this dangerous trip. So there is nothing for you to worry about my lady." he took Cassie's hand a gently kissed her. She was a bit surprised by the amethyst-haired man's action, her face turned a shade of red because this has never happened to her before. Red disliked the man since they met, he also remembered that Jason would probably want her as far away from guys like him as possible.

"Watch it, pal! I suggest that you watch your manners around new people."

"Oh forgive me, sir, I did not know you two were together. My sincerest apologies two both of you. I will take my leave now." He turned his back and walked back to the door of the truck with a mischievous smile on his face.

Red looked at Cassie who was as stiff as a rock "You alright?"

"Y-Yeah, it's just… that this is the first time something like this has ever happened to me."

"What would Jason do if he had been here?"

"He would have probably killed him."

"You really did not go out much, did you?"

She was ashamed to tell the truth but she did not want to lie to Red "No, not really."

"Don't worry about him, if you don't like it just don't pay much attention to it."

"Yeah sure," she said with a hint of red still being on her face.

"Let's get going people!" Odessa shouted from the top of the truck.

When all of the travelers entered the back of the trucks the transports were on the way to Atlas.

Travis and his truck were in front with Odessa and Alexander right behind him. The road was bumpy so the travel wasn't the most comfortable. Red could see that beside them in the truck were elderly, women, and children. One pair cough his eye, a mother with a small girl sitting next to her. They were faunus, cat faunus to be precise. A feeling of hate came over him for some unknown reason. It was pure hatred for someone but he did not know who, he could have also sworn that he heard a voice in his head saying something before it all came to an abrupt end when they all were flung to the front of the truck. Red and Cassie quickly pulled themselves together and ran out of the vehicle to see what going on. They were met by Alexander who told them that the part of the road collapsed under the front and that there was no need to worry. Travis stopped his truck immediately and went to see the situation.

"And I thought that this trip was going to run smoothly."

"Its no problem boss just get some cable and you can use your truck to pull us out. It's not like Grimm are going to come out of the ground."

As he said those wolds the ground started to tremble and soon a large number of centipede Grimm started appearing out of the ground.

"You had to say it! You just had to say it!" Odessa screamed at her brother. "Next time keep your big mouth shut!"

"Everybody stay in the trucks!" Red told the people as he pulled out his sword and charged at the nearest Grimm. Cassie took out her revolvers at started shooting at Grimm that was coming behind Red's back. Odessa was once again on the top of the transport but this time with her bow in hand and shooting at any Grimm she saw, while her Travis was on the ground trying to protect his transport.

"Alexander stop standing around and do something!" Travis barked at him.

"And to think that I thought that this trip was going to be boring." Alexander pulled off his black glows to revile two cybernetic hands, he pulled up his sleeves and two blades came out of his arms.

"Let's dance, shall we?" and with that, he joined the fray.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The grimm are dealt with and Red and Cassie talk a bit.

Chapter 10

The warriors were fighting ferociously, Red slashing with his swords, Cassandra dual-wielding her Peacemakers and Odessa covering them from on top the truck, while Travis and Alexander were fighting to protect the people in the other truck. The more Grimm they killed the more kept coming so the situation was getting dire. 

"There too many of them, what are we going to do?" Cassie shouted.

"Just…keep...fighting, they are going to give up eventually," Red responded, but he knew that odds of that were slim.

"Come on you shits, I'm right here!" Travis said.

Out of nowhere, a scream was heard coming from one of the trucks, a Grimm was making its way to the people trapped inside. Red saw this but he could not respond in time because he was being surrounded by the monsters. As the creature was about to enter the back of the truck it was cut in half by Alexander. He looked at the terrified people.

"Alright, enough is enough! Stay here, nobody move!" Alexander turned and fought his way to the middle of the battlefield. "Everyone find cover!" The group looked at him, Travis and Odessa knew that he was planning to do, so they did as he asked while Red and Cassie continued fighting. Immediately his blades returned to his arms and out of them came out two small tubs and out of them came small flames. He made a certain movement with his fingers and spun around which spread a large wall of flame in all directions. Once they saw this Cassie and Red jumped behind the vehicles to protect themself from the fire. Once the fire dissipated there were no grimm in sight. The group came out of their hiding spots.

"What the hell was that?" Red asked with a hint of anger in his voice.

"That my friend was my semblance. And you should probably thank me for saving your lives."

"We had everything under control."

"Sure you did," Alexander said sarcastically. 

"Wait, so you can control fire?" Cassie asked.

"It is technically called pyrokinesis my blond beauty, but yes you can call it that. Only thing is that I need a source of fire to manipulate it so I have these."

"No matter how you call it, someone could have gotten seriously hurt, These people don't have protective auras as we do."

"That is why I told them to stay in the trucks where it's safe. Those things can take a lot of damage."

Odessa interrupted the discussion "Enough arguing you two, we need to get these people to Atlas fast, it's going dark soon and I rather not be caught out there during the night."

"Odessa is right, we need to get moving. Alexander, you and the masked man there check if that truck can be pulled from the ground," Travis said. 

They tolled the people to get out of the truck so they could pull it out, but not even with all of their help the truck would not move.

"Its really stuck, there no way of us moving it even with the help of the other transport."

"What are we going to do?" a woman asked Travis.

"The way I see it the only solution is for you boss to go with your truck and get your group to safety while we wait for you to come back," Odessa said while sticking her head out if the driver's side window.

"You are right. There is a small town about and hour and a half from here, I can drop these people of there and come back for you."

"That settles it, you will leave them there and come back for us in three hours and everybody will be safe and sound after that."

"Alright, Alexander you are coming with me." The man simply nodded.

The two soon departed with their group and left Red, Cassie, and Odessa to watch over the ones who were left behind. Soon the night fell and it grew colder. Odessa was in the front of the truck while Red and Cassie were outside keeping watch for signs of any trouble. Cassie approached the masked man.

"Are you alright?" Red turned around and responded.

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Because I saw you staring into that woman and her child and the nightmare you had on the plane. You can tell me if something is going on. You can trust me."

Red didn't know why but he felt like he could really trust Cassie. He looked at her for a moment and then said "Fine… I-I been having these dreams and feelings that come out of nowhere. I don't know if they could be memory flashes or something else but..."

Cassie came closer and put her hand on Red shoulder "Don't worry everything is going to be fine once we get to Atlas and you will have your answers." He really wished for that to be true, he wanted to hope that he will get his answer to this mystery and that all will be alright after that but there was a feeling of doubt and fear deep inside him that he could not let go.

They were interrupted by a little girl coming to them. It was the faunus girl from the truck.

"Excuse me, but can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Red responded.

"Are you two huntsman?" The duo simply looked at each other. They bought knew that they weren't but they also knew how scared these people must be right now, so Red decided not to scare this little girl anymore.

"Yes, yes we are."

"I knew it!" the little girl shouted with excitement.

"Huntsman protect people right?"

"Yes, we do."

"Will you protect me and my mommy?"

Cassie knelt beside the little girl and spoke."No harm will come to you or your mother or anyone inside that truck. You can trust me, you can trust us." The little founus girl looked at the man with the scary mask.

"You will be safe I swear," said Red. The girl ran and hugged Red's leg and thanked him.

"There you are Masha, I was worried sick. You know that I don't like it when you run off like that. I hope she wasn't any trouble." 

"Don't worry, she wasn't," Cassie said with a smile.

"Come on Masha lets go back inside."

Red looked at the mother and daughter, he did not feel any hate or anger this time. After some time Odessa joined the duo and the three started to chat and soon Travis and Alexander came back to pick them up and take them all to safety.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red and Cassie reach the safety of a small town and Red opens up a bit more.

Chapter 11

It was about midnight when the group reached the small town. Almost everybody decided to stay at the local inn for the night, all but Red who was still standing outside in the frizzing cold lost in his thoughts. Someone was making their way to him but he did not pay any attention to his surroundings. A familiar voice brought him back to reality.

"I couldn't find you at the inn so I thought that you must be somewhere outside and it seems that I was right. What are you doing here, why don't you come inside with the rest of us? Cassie asked.

"I just need a quiet place to think, to clear my mind," Red said. 

"And you could not do that somewhere where it isn't as cold as hell. Come on let's get something warm in you, I heard that they have hot coco here." She noticed that his mask was in his hands and not on his face. She took a few more steps towards him, he started putting his mask back on but she grabbed his hand before he could do so. She spoke with a soft and caring voice.

"Listen, I don't know what happened to you but if we are to be a team we need to trust each other completely. Why don't you trust me?"

"I trust you Cassie, I really do."

"Then why do you keep your face away from me. Partners should not have any secrets between them."

"It's better this way," Red said in a said tone.

"Why? Are you afraid of something?" Red turned to face her. She saw his face, it was handsome yet scared, a Shnee dust company brand spreading over his left eye. She gasped at the site. He gave her a few moments to ease herself before he spoke.

"No! Maybe! I don't know. The mask helps me to not be afraid. The dreams, the strange feelings, it is if something is inside of me and its slowly trying to get out. When I first woke up and saw the Shnee brand on my face I felt such hatred. I'm going to Atlas to find answers but I'm not sure if I'm going to like what I find there."

Cassie put both of her hands on his shoulders and spoke "Listen, whatever happens, do know that I will be there for you. We will get through this together."

"You are only saying that because Jason ordered you to stay with me."

"Maybe, but I'm serious about this, you can trust that I will be there for you and I trust that you will be there for me when the time comes."

"How can you trust me so much when we just met?"

"I can see that you are a good person and also uncle G is usually a good judge of character so if he trusted you so will I."

"T-Thank you Cassie, I don't know what to say."

"Just come with me for some hot coco, I'm frizzing my ass over here."

"Huh, fine let's go." with that Red put his hood and mask back on.

"Seriously," Cassandra said.

"I will take the mask off once we get inside."

The two entered the inn to see that it was full of people having fun, some were drinking, singing while others were telling various stories. Red and Cassie approached the innkeeper and asked for two hot chocolates. Red took off his mask and put it on the counter. They drank the hot coco and talked when soddenly they were cut off by Odessa.

"Hey, Cassie right?"

"Yeah, do you need something?"

"I was meaning to ask if I could borrow one of your guns to give to my brother over there."

"Why?" Cassie said raising an eyebrow.

"It's for a trick, don't worry no one will get hurt." Cassie was a skeptic but she eventually gave one of her revolvers to the orange-haired girl but she did come with her to make sure everything turns out fine.

"What kind of a trick is this?" Cassie asked curious. 

"You will see," Odessa said with a smirk. 

"Here you go, big brother," Odessa said to Alexander. He took the gun out of her hand and aimed it at the man with a pumpkin on his head. Cassie noticed that Alexander was a bit light on his feet.

"O my God, you can't be serious!" Cassie said worriedly.

"Don't worry the boss is going to be alright."

"Are you sure your brother can pull this off, he is drunk."

Odessa smiled at the statement "He has never done it sober."

A second letter a gunshot was heard and the pumpkin exploded into pieces and the man was perfectly fine. The crowd cheered, Alexander turned around, bowed and walked back to the two girls. He returned the gun in a bowing motion.

"Your weapon my sweet lady." Cassie blushed a bit.

"Just ignore my stupid brother. Do you seriously need to hit on every girl you see?"

"Only on the pretty ones." Alexander lifted his head and looked at the blond.

"I will be going now." Cassie took her gun a made her way back to Red.

"Everything alright with Alexander?"

"Yeah sure.

"So I was meaning to ask, what are you going to do after we are done with this Atlas thing of mine?"

"I guess I will stay with you. With the Atlas military pulling out of most areas lots of people are defenseless so we might go around and help those who need it.

"I guess that that's a plan. In the case, let's have a toast. To partnership."

"To partnership!"


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red and Cassie finally arrive in Atlas and all hell breaks loose.

Chapter 12

In the morning the group was on its way to Atlas. Before that Travis managed to get the other truck out with some heavy machinery he found at the town. After the transport was brought back and repaired they went on their way. A few hours later they arrived at Mental. Once they arrived they saw what was the real situation in Atlas and Mental. Down in Mental Atlas soldiers and robots were everywhere and the fleet was stationed up above. They said their goodbyes to the people who got them there and pressed on.

"So how are we going to find these people?"

"I'm not sure. I'm guessing they must be up there in Atlas but we should probably ask around first to see if anyone knows anything."

The duo went around Mental asking for information on the huntsman that arrived from Beacon some time ago but they did not have much luck. The best they had was the news of a group of young huntsmen and huntresses fought of some Grimm way back but that was it. They continued walking around trying to decide what to do next when they came to a dust store that was owned by The Shnee dust company.

"I could use some more dust for my bullets," said Cassie. Red only stared at the Shnee logo, a feeling of rage started flowing trough him once more and out of nowhere he lifted his fist and punched the glass window shattering it. Cassie stood there in shock just looking at him until the shop keeper came out and started screaming at them. Cassandra gave the man some money to pay for the window repair and then dragged Red out of there.

"What just happened? Are you alright?" Cassie asked, concerned for her friend.

"I don't know. I think its getting worse," Red said with fear in his voice. 

"Listen, everything is going to be fine. Let's get you somewhere to sit down, after that we will ask some soldiers if they know something about Beacon huntsman." As they started walking towards a nearby park red lights turned on and Atlas soldiers running around and troop transports rushing to various parts of the city. The two looked around in confusion. 

"What's going on?" Asked Red and immediately he got his answer when he saw Grimm flying up ahead and running down the streets. He saw a group of soldiers taking positions nearby. "We need to help them now!" Cassie and Red rushed to the soldiers to give them any assistance they could.

The sergeant was getting his man ready for the fight that was about to come. "The first squad with me, second squad on the right, third squad on the left, we need to keep this area safe! And watch out for any civilians."

"Yes sir!" the soldiers shouted in unison.

The duo came running to the commander. "Sir, we can help. We can fight." Red said to the sergeant.

The officer looked at them for a moment, as if to size them up. "Fine, we are going to need all help we can get, this is the biggest Grimm attack yet. Ready yourselves." Red pulled his katana out of its scabbard and took place at the front of solders with Cassie drawing out her guns and walking right behind him. For a moment there was silence, the soldiers held them breathe and then a pack of sabertooth Grimm came into view.

"Open fire!" the sergeant shouted. The soldiers fired at the incoming Grimm, they managed to take some down but more kept coming.

"Stay here with them," Red said to Cassie and charged at the incoming Grimm. He moved with such speed and precision which Cassie had never seen. One by one the Grimm started falling, being cut into pieces by his sword. When the final Grimm fell Red made his way back to the group of soldiers. As he did so he spotted some civilians that were hiding in the houses and alleys.

"More are coming for sure, we need to get these people out of here," Red said. 

"There is a checkpoint a mile in that direction, that's where the bullheads and other transports are going to land to get these people to safety," said the sergeant. 

"Alright, we need to get these people there fast."

"Sorry son but you are going to have to do that on your own. My orders are to hold his position, the best I can do is give you some of my men to go with you."

"That will do. Thank you."

"Alright man, get those people in the troop transport we need to get them out of here, Pronto."

The soldiers loaded the civilians into the transport. The commander turned back to Red "Omaly and Briggs are coming with you, they will take you to the checkpoint."

"Thank you," said Cassie.

"Let's get going." said one of the soldiers. The truck sped its way through the streets, any Grimm that tried to attack it was quickly disposed of by Cassie with her revolvers. They made their way to the checkpoint just in time. The people made their way to the aircraft and were carried off to safety.

Red approached one of the soldiers at the site.

"Is there anything you need us to do?"

"Here no but guys in sector 15 could you assistance, they have taken heavy losses."

"Where is that?" Red asked. 

"That way," the soldier pointed. 

"Oh no! That's were Travis and the people from the village were," Cassie said concerned. 

"Come on we need to help them!" Red and Cassie made their way to the sector while fighting off any Grimm that came their way. Once they reached the site they saw the dire situation. The few soldiers that were left were fighting beside Odessa and Alexander but the Grimm were just too many, Travis was laying on the ground injured, barely breathing but alive.

Cassie and Red ran to their aid cutting and shooting all the Grimm the could see. Red quickly made his way to Alexander.

"Glad you could make it to the party," Said Alexander "But we got this under control."

"Sure you do if by that you mean getting surrounded by Grimm," Cassie responded. 

"I missed you blonde," Alexsander said, a chicky smile on his lips.

"Focus, we are in a tight spot here. Any good ideas?" Red said. 

"I could try my flame tornado move again."

"No its too dangerous, there are too many people that could get hurt."

Suddenly Odessa voice was heard "The trucks!"

"What?" the three shouted at the same time.

"Alexander, Red use you straight to push the trucks towards them it should slow them down a bit." The two looked at each other and nodded. They did as they were told and it really did slow the Grimms advance. After that Odessa came up with a plan of defense.

"Red you will take the front, Cassie watch the left side, Al watch the right side, I will watch the rear and you solders will be proveding fire from those cars over there."

"Why should we listen to you? One soldier said.

"Do you have a better plan of action?" Odessa said glaring at the man. The solder simply looked at the ground and stayed quiet." Then, take your positions, everyone!"


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam regains his memories and tries to come to terms who he once was and who he is now.

AN: This chapter is final so I decided to make it a bit longer and not split it in two. I hope you enjoy it.

The heroes were doing everything in their power to stop the Grimm onslaught, desperately fighting, shooting, and slashing at the demonic creatures while at the same time making sure that the people who were stuck there with them stayed safe and sound. The soldiers who were with them kept assisting them by giving the supporting fire. The fighting went on for what felt forever, for every Grimm slain another took its place and they just kept coming. Odessa's and Alexander's sides were mostly under control but Cassie's inexperience was starting to show. She was being almost overrun by the tide of grim. Red noticed this and decided that he had to do something fast.

Red yelled at the group of soldiers behind him "Soldiers, can you take care of this side by yourself? She needs help!"

"Not worry, we can manage just go!" Red nodded at the soldier and rushed to aid Cassie. Cassie was doing her best but there were just too many. A saber tooth Grimm cough her of the gourd and pinned her down the ground. Its mouth only inches from her and slowly coming closer, she was never so terrified in her life. She closed her eyes awaiting the inevitable but it never came. The Grimms head came clean off with a swipe off Reds sword and the body dropped to the side. Cassie opened her eyes to see Red outstretching his hand to her.

"You ain't dying today. Now take my hand." Cassie took Red hand and he lifted her up. "You alright, any injuries?

"No, I'm fine, just a bit shocked that's all." Red picked up the two revolvers that were laying on the ground and handed them back to Cassie. She took them and thanked him. One of the soldiers came running to them.

"General Ironwood is sending reinforcements. They will arrive in 10 minutes."

"Let's hope we last that long. The duo turned and looked at a wave of Grimm were making their way to them, Red pulled out the other sword and Cassie reloaded her revolvers.

"Ready?" Red asked her.

"Always!" She said. Red and Cassie charged at the large pack of Beowolves in front of them. One by one the pack was killed. Red and Cassie were standing in the middle of the street surrounded by Grimm bodies when they hared a scream coming from an alley.

"Stay here. I will check it out!" Red made his way to the alley, where he saw a little girl up against a wall of a building with a Beowulf Grimm only meters in front of her. He lunged at the beast and put his sword through its head killing it instantly. He carefully approached the scared little girl.

"It's alright, no one will hurt you. You are safe now." He put his sword back into its scabbard and lifted the girl up and held her in his arms. She was so scared that we were shaking out of fear. "The monsters are gone, all is going to be alright now," Red said with a calming tone. He took a look around to see if the path was safe, he looked left, right, and finally behind him only to freeze in his place. He saw a girl with short black hair and cat ears on her head fighting beside a girl with long blonde hair. She had ember eyes and wore a long white tailcoat. He somehow recognized her. "Blake" he spoke and with that, the memories came flooding back. First came the memory of the meeting as members of the White fang, then came a memory of them fighting together, of them sitting on a rooftop in Menagerie, and then came the memory of her living him in that train, of her abandoning him. Rage started to feel him, one stronger then any he felt before, this wasn't just rage it was pure hatred. More memories started coming back to him and the feelings of rage and hate just kept getting bigger. He started walking towards the black-haired girl but was stopped when the little girl tugged at his sleeve. He looked down and saw that she was still in his arms looking at him with those scared brown eyes. The feeling of rage subsided for a moment and he remembered what he was doing. He needed to take this little girl back to safety. He took another look at Blake and then again at the little girl. Something won over inside of him and he tightened his hold over the girl and ran back to the position where others were holding on. On his way, their more memories kept coming back and more anger filled his heart. He managed to get the girl back to safety just in time as Ironwood's reinforcements came in. Red approached Cassie with the little girl.

"Take her! Take her now!" He shouted at her. Cassie took the small child in her arms, confused and concerned because of his reaction. As she took the girl Red started running away from her.

She went after him and grabbed him by the wrist "Wait, what wrong?"

He pulled his hand out of her hold, his mask fell off his face "Stay away from me! Just stay away!" He once again started running away from her. She tried to follow but this time he was too fast. She simply looked at him as he disappeared behind the city buildings with the child still in her hands. Odessa came running to Cassie.

"What happened? Where did he go?"

"I don't know but I'm going to find out. Will you guys be alright without us?

"With the help of the general's men, sure."

"Alright." Cassie looked at the girl and spoke: "Now, this nice lady here is going to take care of you, you will be safe with her, OK?" Cassie handed the girl to Odessa, picked up the oni mask from the ground, and quickly ran off after Red.

Red was kneeling on a rooftop of one of the buildings, his hands on his face. More and more memories kept returning to him. Beacon, the white fang, Haven, and finally the fight with Blake and Yang at the river. He could hear a voice inside his head, it was his voice but different, dark and evil and it was telling him to go and kill them, to take his revenge. To kill Blake for abandoning him, to kill Yang for almost killing him, to kill Weiss to take revenge on the Shnee company for branding him and enslaving the founus. He tried to fight this but the more he tried the more taking revenge made seance to him. Then out of nowhere, Cassie found him, she slowly approached him.

"Why did you run off like that? What's wrong? What happened out there?" She looked at the kneeling man. She felt concerned and pity for the red-haired man, she knew that something must have happened to him while he was out there. He did not respond to her, he just kept still with his hands on his face. The voice was heard once again but this time it was saying to kill her, how all humans should pay for what they did to him. She came behind him, knelt beside him and put one hand on his shoulder. "You can tell me what wrong. You can trust me, remember?" Red slowly lifted himself, Cassie did the same but took a step back. Red turned around to look at the blond girl, his eyes meeting hers. She looked straight at them, there was something wrong with him, she knew it. He put his hand on his sword and took a step towards her, while she took a step back "Red?". The voice was loud inside him. Once again he took a step towards her and she took a step back. The rage and the hate were so strong now that he could no longer keep a hold of himself. He looked at her scared and concerned face. The string of bad memories was cut by a memory of Gerald, the man who spent weeks caring for him, training him, and helping him without asking for anything in return. Then came a memory of Jason, the man who's granddaughter was standing in front of him. He remembered the promises he made to Gerald, to Jason, and to the little faunus girl in the truck.

The voice was screaming for him to kill her but out of nowhere it was cut off by Gerald's voice saying "Always remember to do the right thing." He fell on his knees, his hands once again were on his head. Cassie only looked at him with a terrified expression. Inside him, a battle was raging, the old versus the new, the killer he was versus the protector he had become. He screamed in pain, then Cassie finally managed to muster the courage to come closer to him and she hugged him.

"All is going to be fine, we will get through this together I promise you that."

After a long moment, he finally spoke with tiers in his eyes "How can you be so sure, how can you trust me like that, trust a killer?"

"You are not a killer, I saw you putt your life on the line countless time today alone, you are a good man."

Red pushed her away from him "Why do you keep saying that? I did terrible things, I killed so many humans, hurt so many people, I even hurt the one person who loved me. After all of that, how can you say that I'm good!" As he said that she came to the conclusion that he must have somehow recovered his memories while he was rescuing the child.

She spoke to him with a soft voice "Because that's not you, that might be who you were once but that is not who you are now. There is good in you, more than you know." He looked at her wondering how can someone still believe in him even after they knew what he had done. "There are people counting on us to, counting on you to get us through this … to get me through this." He looked at her with a shocked expression on his face. "Whatever happened in the past is in the past, the only thing that matters is what's happening now. No one is beyond redemption." Red contemplated her words, he didn't wont to be the force of evil he once was but the pull was strong. "I believe in you Red." The battle inside subsided and he slowly got back up and so did she, they looked at each other straight in the eyes. The turmoil inside him was still there but not as fierce as it was before, he could think clearly again and she noticed this.

He took a step and hugged her tightly."Thank you for everything Cassie, I don't know how to thank you."

"You could start by letting go. I'm running out of air."

He let go and apologized" I know that I might never reconcile with my past, but what I can do right now is help those who need it the most. Are you with me partner?

A big smile found its self on Cassie's lips "Always! Now Red shall we return to Odessa and the others?"

"Yes, and also the names Adam."

"Adam, well it's better then Red I guess." Cassie chuckled slightly "Also you dropped this." Cassie pulled out the oni mask and presented it to him.

"I don't think that I will be needing that anymore."

"Really, assuming everything you told me is true, I think its best for you to hide that face of yours for the time being."

Adam looked at the mask and took it "I guess you are right." and once again the mask was back on his face. "A new mask for a new beginning."

Cassie smiled at him."Now, let's go back if we are lucky we didn't miss all the fun." They made their way back to the position, only to see that is was all over. The Grimm where gone, Travis and the other injured were being taken care of and the civilians were being taken to Atlas. Alexander made his way through the crowd of soldiers to meet them.

"Where were you? What happened?"

"Nothing, we just had to take care of something," Adam said.

"So, everything is under control here?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. The tide turned in our favor once the reinforcements arrived. There are still some fighting in the city but nothing major."

Some time past and the group was helping in any way they could, from getting injured to the transports to taking care of the last of the Grimm in the area. Adam was still thinking about everything he had once done, he could still hear a whisper in his head but he ignored it. He told somethings about himself to Cassie, but not all of them still fearing how would she react. He will tell her in due time, for now, they had to focus on the task at hand. Once most of the work was done they sat down on the ground, disusing what will they do next. The discussion was broken by one of the soldiers shouting "What is the god's name is that?" They looked at the sky, what they saw terrified them to their cores, an enormous flying Grimm and an army of other Grimm behind it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the end of this story, but don't worry this is only the first volume of the Second chance. I will write the second volume as soon as the next volume of RWBY comes out because I want it to stay connected as much as possible.


End file.
